In one aspect, the present invention relates to farm equipment, and in particular, to manifold systems for delivering liquid manure or sludge for agricultural use. In another aspect, the invention relates to hitches, such as three point hitches, for use in attaching implements to tractors.
The use of manure and sludge in farming has taken on increased attention over recent years. There are number of benefits associated with such materials, including the cost of obtaining and handling these materials, and their value as a source of nutrients. Continuous and careful use of manure can improve the physical and chemical properties of nearly all soils, particularly those that are shallow, coarse textured, or low in organic matter. Manure provides essential elements for crop growth and, in adding organic matter, serves to improve soil structure and increase the soil""s ability to hold water and nutrients and to resist compaction and crusting.
Drag hose systems, also called towed-hose injection systems, have been used commercially to inject municipal sludge since the 1960s. Agricultural applications were developed at the University of Minnesota in the early. 1970s. Drag hoses offer important advantages for farms that require large-volume manure applications, in that they allow liquid manure to be surface applied, or incorporated in remote locations using an irrigation pump, drag hose (soft hose), tillage implement, and tractor. The pump itself provides manure to the tractor through a soft, flexible hose. Using a drag hose system, most of the tool bar applications commonly used with tankers can be used for surface application. For incorporation, the tractor pulls the drag hose and a tillage implement. See, for instance, M. Dougherty, et al., xe2x80x9cLiquid Manure Application Systems Design Manualxe2x80x9d, Northeast Regional Agricultural Engineering Services Cooperative Extension publication No. NRAES-89, pp. 91-95 (1998), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, in which FIG. 4. 16 presents the basic components of a drag hose system.
Dougherty, et al. go on to explain that the cost of applying liquid manure with a drag hose is dependent upon the total amount of liquids manure to be applied and the distance from the storage to the field. Requirements for a basic drag hose system typically include:
satellite storage or other manure supply
irrigation pump and engine
piping or tanker transport to the field
at least one 660-foot drag hose
manifold to be mounted on the tillage implement.
One disadvantage of the drag hose system, according to Dougherty et al., is the difficulty in obtaining equipment, since this method of liquid manure application is not common in all parts of the country. Presently, there are only a small number of suppliers for drag hose systems. Specialized equipment and experience is required to assemble and operate a drag hose system properly. The equipment has a high capital cost in comparison to the more traditional liquid tanker or spreader. If tillage is not needed, drag hose systems can be more expensive than big gun irrigation. Other potential disadvantages of drag hose systems include the following:
Distance to the field may be a limitation.
Obtaining right-of-way for pipeline access.
Liquid manure must be dilute enough to be pumpable ( less than 8% TS).
Drag hose systems using tillage may cause excessive erosion on sloping ground.
Deep injection does not work well in shallow, stony, or frozen soils.
Extra pumps and tractors may be required.
High application rates may result in overapplication of nutrients such as Nitrogen and Phosphorus.
Conventional drag hose systems typically involve the use of a drag hose assembly, permanently attached to a corresponding tillage tool. Although the tillage tool, in turn, can be quickly coupled to a standard three point hitch, the drag hose assembly itself remains dedicated (generally welded at its swivel) to that particular tool. While such systems have found widespread use they continue to suffer from other common drawbacks as well, including (1) the cost of having a special tool bar for dedicated use in the injection operation, (2) the added labor required to change the tillage tool in accordance with soil conditions, crop requirements, application requirements (e.g., high or low gallons per acre), and the volume delivered to the manifold. The costs associated with transportation and storage, environmental concerns, and handling (i.e., labor) and equipment. Moreover, such systems are typically time consuming to use, requiring the operator to take several steps to attach and detach the equipment.
On a separate subject, farming equipment has evolved tremendously over the past century. Built around the tractor itself, a variety of equipment has been developed in a manner that continually strives to match the equipment to the tractor, both in mechanical terms as well as in terms of economic conditions, weather and terrain, and labor savings. In order to lessen the cost of equipment investment, a variety of hitches have been developed, including drawbar hitches, drawbar hitches adapted for use as a three point hitch (by the use of stay bars) and three point hitches themselves.
Integral hitches (single point, two point or three point) are typically rear mounted and hydraulically controlled. Three point hitches are the most commonly used, and have been used to attach a variety of equipment, including tillage equipment (plows, discs, field cultivators), planting equipment (drills, planters, cultivators), and harvesting equipment (e.g., hay and forage equipment, mowers, balers, harvesters, combines and pickers). Most of such equipment, and particularly rear mounted equipment, is designed to be pulled directly behind the tractor, and so exhibits relatively little stress in the lateral direction. The hitches themselves are categorized largely by their maximum drawbar power, with the highest levels being Category III intended for 80-225 hp and Category IV for. 180-400 hp. See, for instance, Jeffers product description sheet. To Applicant""s knowledge, however, none of the commercially available three point hitches have been described or are suitable for use in connection with drag hose operations as described above.